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Monday, May 24, 2010

SHAME, SHAME, SHAME

In a disturbing story on WFSB tonight, Hartford Bureau Chief Len Besthoff presented a story about what should be one of the most hallowed pieces of land in Hartford.

In a city run by a City Council that is quick to address issues in Arizona, it seems as though they are falling flat when it comes to addressing issues right here in Hartford.

As I said before, Hartford's "Soldiers Field", which was established as the final resting place for many of Hartford's veterans and their spouses, should be revered and maintained as one of the most hallowed parcels of land on the City's inventory.

According to Besthoff's story and the accompanying video proof, the graves are almost totally ignored when it comes to maintenance. Soldier's headstones toppled, graves overgrown and obscured by tall grass and weeds, remains of flower arrangements from funeral's left on graves for months, all deplorable conditions.

And I think it would be safe to say that there very well may be members on the City Council and on the Council's Parks Committee who don't believe in war. None the less, many of these graves are the final resting place of brave men and women who have died during actual combat and paid the ultimate price for us as a society, as well as those who served in active duty and were fortunate enough to make it back home to Hartford.

We owe them and their families, at the very least, proper maintenance of their final resting places.

In my opinion, that should be a priority for the Council before any other nonsense resolutions against Arizona are passed. As I said before, it is time to get our own house in order before we try to run the entire country, and this is a perfect example.

Wait. What separates this from the years worth of complaints we've been making about our cemeteries and parks? Because a bunch of suburbanites come and complain, the City has to jump AND ask how high?! Tell them to pick a number and wait their turn. Old North is 10x worse and that green ribbon committee, which hasn't met yet, still hasn't mowed the lawn at Colt Park. This isn't about Arizona, so don't try to sound off on your own issues Brookman. This is about the horrible condition our parks are in and how nothing is being done about it.

I would think the difference is passing a resolution on AZ costs Hartford nothing, since we do no business with them. Fixing the parks requires paying someone to do it. Hey, maybe we could give Carlos Costa the job ... he needs something to do.

(By the way ... I don't completely disagree with Kevin's position on AZ, but nine other states are considering laws like that. Sitting around and staying silent allows bad ideas like this to become bad laws, which are much harder to get rid of. Do you want Hartford police having to stop every Latino they see on the street to check for papers?)

Anonymous (I mean Cotto), do you do part-time work for the Census now??? My neighborhood is not important b/c as far as I am concerned, the entire city proper is my neighborhood and is easily accessible via public transportation, bike or on hoof, like we used to do back in the day. I use all of the city parks, not the one closest to where I sleep. Is that OK w/you???

Contrary to popular opinion, (or at least yours) I always post with my name. But I'll answer your question regardless. I agree with 100% of what you said in your 2nd posting. And, yes, it is very much OK with me. I also agree with most of your 1st posting...especially your call for everyone to not forget that we are moving forward with building a skatepark in the central business district. Thank you very much for your support. Peace

Anonymous, it's a shame that your mentality is the same as many people who are used to politics as usual in this city. If someone votes in a way that you're not happy with, it HAS to be for some nefarious reason...NOT the reason that was stated. I hope that you end up with just a little bit more hope for this City.

In my 2+ years on Council I have never, and will never, trade my vote in exchange for personal consideration either for myself or a family member.

But of course, that doesn't mean squat to you, doesn't it? You're bitter cuz I didn't vote to oust poor ole Cal and you just have to get back at someone. No problem, I understand...it comes with the uniform. (tee shirts and shorts and all)

Please....we all know your game Luis. You are on kneepads to the Mayor.As some of us see it,on the big votes you have been with the Mayor.You have more familly members on the city or city funded payroll then any other councilman...give me a break.

Cotto: Let's forget about the whole "vote trading" issue. Just answer straight up: Did Eddie get your wife/domestic partner a job with CRT? I think you are a breath of fresh air and I hope you run for re-election, but my advise to you is to come clean and start anew so that folks can give you the props you deserve. If Eddie were to come clean he could save all taxpayers (city & state)a lot of $ on trial and possible incarceration. There is nothing more refreshing than an adult who admits to having made a mistake, asks for forgiveness, and then goes on to redeem himself and the people he serves. That would be the sign of a true leader.

Esther, thank you for posting your name and asking the question and not posting accusations. The very short answer is that the Mayor had absolutely nothing to do with my partner getting an offer at CRT. I'd be more than happy to have the conversation with you if you wanna call me (860.539.4310) Yes, that's my city cell...I'm sure that the pathetic souls who love to spread false rumors have it as well but do they bother to call to see if the rumors are true...nope.

The bigger issue is that no less than 12 hours after a controversial vote, people who were upset with the outcome were coming up with there own theories of why I voted the way I did. pobrecito's...

My father told me to expect it, I was just surprised that they would come after family so easily. But, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?

I'm not sure what to believe anymore without hard evidence because Hartford has become so entrenched with corruption, self serving politicians, quid-pro-quo and backstabbing.

However, regardless of what's the truth I have respected for you posting on here and keeping your composure under such hostile accusation. You're way ahead of most of the politicians in Hartford with that alone.

Jeff...many of us here toiling in the political vineyards believe that given his family's working in city funded jobs and given his voting the Perez line most of the time..and given his relationship with Perez and given that while he is on the "arts distribution committee",that his former employers were given money through that entity...that he is within the Perez Empire..maybe not to the degree of some others, but certainly within it.

I don't know about the other readers of this blog, but sometimes I do get the feeling that Cotto is Clintonizing us, that is using semantics to twist his answers to hot button questions. However, as Jeff pointed out, maybe we don't have enough evidence yet. To the anonymous poster, please come up with some more concrete facts. I don't know Cotto's sister, but I do know that if she does belong to a union, she, like other union members is entitled to both "general wage" increases (a la COLAS) and "step" increases on the anniversary of her appointment to the position. Re Cotto and his employer and the grant funds, I suggest to the anonymous person that they contact HUD anonymously and ask that the Office of Inspector General conduct an investigation as to whether there was any impropriety or conflict of interest. Other than that course of action, I suggest we leave Cotto alone for now, but continue to monitor his council resolutions. Re Esther's comments and to Cotto I say, just remember what we say in Spanish: "Dime con quien andas y dire quien eres." Roughly translated: "Tell me who your friends are and I'll tell you who you are." While this may not wholly be true, in the realm of politics, appearances, both real and imagined, come into play. Just look @ the governor's race and who reached out to Hartford politicos and who didn't. I think we should strive to be like the two legislators in California who reached across the aisle in a bipartisan way to work on that state's deficit. For one them his action was all but political suicide, but when interviewed on national news having received the "Profiles in Courage" award from the Kennedy foundation, both gentlemen said they would do it all over again b/c it was the right thing to do.

Jeff...thank you at least for the benefit of the doubt. Keep in mind that I don't have a problem providing (at least my own anecdotal proof) of why the accusations are BS, yet the people accusing are not asked the same.

So, I have family that works fr the city...big whoop. I have a big f#$%ing family. But no one will ever mention that 100% of the family that works for the city (that totals 4...yes 4) all had their jobs waaaaay before I got on council. The least of them is my sister at the library who was there at least 3 years before I was elected. But no...the next accusation is that she got a raise because of me...get a life.

And to anonymous who lists the O so may reason why I just have to be yet another corrupt politician, you are so easily dissected.

1) I already went into my families ties to me and the city

2) people who "toil in the vineyards" will say that I vote with Perez but will most likely not be able to list actual votes...except the Cal Torres vote which I submit this all stems from. Fact is, if you look at my votes in a 2+ year span, my votes are no more PRO or ANTI perez than anyone else's on council.

3) I'm "on the arts distribution" whatever...I was one of 10 people who voted on recipients for an arts stimulus which I 100% supported. Some groups that I used to work for received money...but some groups I used to work for did not. Big whoop. and finally

4) that I'm "with the Perez empire." It is that type of guilt by association which caused me to vote against the Calixto coup in the first place. Yes, I think that the mayor is a good man. He's definitely a person I will and have broken bread with. Yet, I can differentiate that with the type of politics he chooses to practice. Politics which one will find very commonplace in the attacks against me. Also, I'm not a Democrat, so I didn't get elected via anyone's coattails but my own. Hence, I don't owe anybody anything. So, am I in his "empire"? It's up to each to decide.

and finally to Jeanette, I thank you for your post. I should be held accountable on each and every vote and have no problem providing you rationale with each and every vote. I don't know how you might define "Clintonizing" anyone...it might be more than PG-13 :-) But sometimes it's not as easy as saying TRUE or NOT TRUE. Yes I have a number of family members that work for the city, yes I have two more who work at CRT and yes I might have untold cousins who work at other CBOs around the City. But that is not the crime or insinuation. The insinuation is that those people received their jobs because I somehow stepped in and got them that job, which is 100% wrong.

Trust me when I tell you Esther, Jeanette, and Jeff that a bunch of people have told me that I should ignore these posts and just move on. Well, that's not how I was raised. If someone is going to come after me, or such in this case my family, I will not stay shut. So if it has to be responding to anonymous posts from people who do absolutely nothing positive for this city, than so be it.

Other than that, I'm more than happy to provide my boy Kevin Brookman with a couple more hits on his blog. ~peace!!

Luis lied in his last response....he claimed that all his family members had city jobs way before he took office,which isnt the case as his wife got the CRT job after he took office.

In addition...luis still refuses to tell the public of the circumstances surrounding his leaving the Charter Oak job.

Certain parts of the WFP will never support Luis again and started to drift from him on the lay-offs vote....ask Clark King the head of Afscme for more details.

You never once publically reproached Mayor Perez for his behavior and have the nerve to say that you find him to be a "good man" when in fact most of us believe that he is a crook....nevertheless you never called him out publically on the Costa or Giles matters and when you stated in your last response that you " would break bread with him" tells us more about YOU then him.He should have been shunned by you and the other elected officials and he should have resigned and the political class in Hartford should have spoke up about his behavior...Larry D did and you should have.

Mayor Perez should have been called out by you...he represents a terrible image to folks outside Hartford and to those folks living in the city and especially presents a negative image to young kids who are just now forming positions on moral questions,but you choose to never say a negative word about your friend.

Ouch. I truly hope Mayor Perez has some sort of control or threat over you Mr Cotto for you to make the statement "Yes, I think the Mayor is a good man", because if he doesn't I seriously question your belief system and how you define a good person.

Cotto: Stop talkin' the talk and start walkin' the walk. The more you say the deeper you dig yourself into the deep abyss. You need to get a good advisor. I am available for consulting, but I will throw you a few bones: Know when to hold them and when to fold them. Sometimes less is more. Sometimes no is yes. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, bro, damn it, it's a f___ing duck!!!! If you come clean I will definitely support you in your next run for council.

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About Me

THE OPINIONS EXPRESSED ON THIS BLOG ARE STRICTLY THAT, MY OPINIONS.After getting fed up with the lack of openness in Hartford City Hall, I decided to begin a program on Hartford Public Access Television called "WE THE PEOPLE". Through tips received we have been able to expose numerous issues that the Perez Administration would prefer to keep quiet.
Any information received is kept in strict confidence, feel free to e-mail me at krbrookman@earthlink.net or call me at 860-883-2297 with any information.